The first one, compiled by Ahmed Deen, a close friend of Iqbal, was in fact a critical appreciation of Iqbal but it included a copious selection from Iqbal’s Urdu poetry. Titled Iqbal and ...

“Very few people are familiar with Urdu literature, even through poetry. There were forms such as the qasida — used to praise someone or a marsiya, a song of sorrow that have faded out,” he say ...